NASA releases footage showing massive Hurricane Florence from space

The massive storm was captured on a high-definition camera from the International Space Station as it barreled across the Atlantic Ocean with its 130 miles per hour winds.

From his orbiting perch, Gerst offered Earthlings yet another warning about the hurricane's dangers: "Get prepared on the East Coast, this is a no-kidding nightmare coming for you".

Hurricane Florence, the first major hurricane in the Atlantic basin this season, will be slamming into the Eastern United States this week as a Category 4 hurricane.

The storm is on track to hit the Carolinas and mid-Atlantic region as early as Thursday, according to the hurricane centre.

Residents of the US East Coast are preparing for the storm's arrival as the National Weather Service warned on Monday that "Florence is forecast to bring devastating rainfall and flooding from the coast to the Appalachians".

NASAastronaut Ricky Arnold also captured some incredible images of the storm from the windows of the space station.

NASA satellites are providing a lot of different kinds of data to forecasters at the National Hurricane Center to help them understand what's happening Hurricane Florence.

Hurricane Florence as seen from the International Space Station on Monday, September 10, 2018.

"#HurricaneFlorence is so enormous, we could only capture her with a super wide-angle lens from the @Space_Station, 400 km directly above the eye".

When the space station flew over the storm's menacing eye, Gerst took this photo.

The governors of North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia declared states of emergency far ahead of the approaching storm.